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Again, please please please check for asbestos before you start a project like this.
If I knew then what I know now, I'd have insisted on asbestos testing of my vinyl flooring in the house I bought, BEFORE I bought. Now I have to deal with the possibility of asbestos flooring and a complete "abatement" if I want the flooring up (I knew nothing about that when I bought my house) or living with ugly 70's vinyl to avoid the asebestos question, when there's fabulous hard wood underneath. I could have at least knocked some $ off the price had I known to ask before I bought.
Too late for me... but, it's wet when you scrape it down and bound in that stuff so... (and, I'm still here and much happier with it down...)
NOW ya tell me!
Yeah, many of my friends have done this and had no idea either.
Me, I started gleefully ripping up vinyl the day we closed on the house, ready to get at those hardwood floors because I REALLY wanted to uncover and refinish them before we moved in. Luckily I didn't get very far before asking for advice on how to get it off the floor, when someone on the 'net told me about the asbestos risk.
Oh and then, to make matters worse, my dog seems to think there is buried treasure under the vinyl and while we were gone he ripped a huge chunk out of the MIDDLE of the room, and shredded it. So who knows, maybe he's killed us all. It takes a long time to show the signs, from what I've read!
Seriously I'm not going to lose any sleep over it but I'm not doing anything else with it either until it's all tested, and it's covered now with thin plywood and a huge heavy rug to keep the dog away!
Oh and then, to make matters worse, my dog seems to think there is buried treasure under the vinyl and while we were gone he ripped a huge chunk out of the MIDDLE of the room, and shredded it. So who knows, maybe he's killed us all. It takes a long time to show the signs, from what I've read!
Seriously I'm not going to lose any sleep over it but I'm not doing anything else with it either until it's all tested, and it's covered now with thin plywood and a huge heavy rug to keep the dog away!
Your pup is probably not going to be a dead dog any time soon. A lot of this abestos is a sort scare tactics to generate income for the various folks involved.
No doubt the stuff is not good for you, but it is being wildly inflated what the harm level is. Two fibers probably ain't going to kill you.
The actual facts never square with the claims. There have been millions of folks who were exposed and never experienced any problem, died of old age. Especially in older industrial settings, ships and the like. Ships were just loaded with the stuff. It was everywhere. Same with a lot of factories.
Cases where kids up in Canada played on the mining dumps, you would think the casuality rate should have been 100%.
It does seem you need a fairly good exposure at some higher level over some longer time frame. The shipyard workers who actually mixed the stuff and applied it did have bad casuality rates but they also probably need to be exposed for pretty long times. Many got lung cancer after long careers. It is never clear what the actual casuality rate was, probably not anywhere close to 100%. Same for the factory workers who produced the stuff.
In fact I have had a fair exposure, including one job where we removed tons of that type of tile like you have after a fire on board a ship, lots of it was as an ash, zero protection provided. Been around a bit in the construction type business, removed my share of it. I expect to die in bed with my boots off.
Probably a bit like smoking, get enough exposure, long enough and it will kill you.
So I would not react so violently to all the hype. Might take some basic precautions, wet the stuff a bit, wear a good mask, pay attention to not getting it airborne. Surely limit your exposure but do we have to get the levels down to zero when our history is saying the opposite.
First of all you want to get the stuff tested, to make sure that it isnt asbestos, if so it can be relatively expensive...however if not, your in good shape, if your doing it yourself, your substrate plays an important role, if its sheetrock, you want to guesstimate exactly how much sprayed water you want to use, because you might wet the drywall paper as well and then you will need to skim coat, but anyway you will have to do that anyway, if concrete substrate, its much safer and cost effective. an inexpensive water sprayer will do the trick with a couple of dull scrapers, dont use wallpaper scrapers(its too sharp!), also make sure before you start, cover everything with plastic, because you dont wanto ruin anything underneath...its an interesting project if you have the time, or better yet....take it down and contact a skim coater, but you gotta like the work your doing,,,thats the key...it helps out for the most part.....
back then and even now it has a finished decorative finish....to hide joints would be a no no...sometimes,,because if the tape isnt applied properly,,,you will see splits and even the tape coming off..it gave a some what elegant feeling when you entered the rooms...frankly, everything is changing at a fast pace...and were meeting that challenge, thats the good part...imagine removing wall paper on everything....even the ceilings and doors and oh yes baseboards and around window trim as well.....lol// now you find popcorn ceilings in high rises and alot of commercial areas..
It was very easy for us. Cover your floors with plastic. Get a three gallon garden sprayer. Fill it with hot water, soak an area of the popcorn cieling and it comes right off with a plastic scraper. Soak another section etc. You may scratch the drywall paper withthe scraper a bit and have to do some touch up, but it is very easy. When you are done, just roll up the plastic throw it away and the mess is gone.
If you want to, you can add a surfactant like DIF wallpaper remover to the water, but it was not necessary for us. Just get it wet and it comes right off.
I disagree that it's a hard project but it is a messy one.
I did three rooms myself this year. It didn't take that long...
All you need is a pump type garden sprayer filled with warm water and a scraper. If your ceiling has never been PAINTED -- it should come right off in big strips.
Spray it. Let it absorb in. Test it to see if its ready ... you may have to spray a second time.
Work in small sections -- don't spray the whole ceiling at the same time. Don't spray the part that's been stripped.
I did it all by myself and it's not that hard. (and, I'm a girl)
You should get an estimate or two and then try it yourself. You'll be smiling all the way through when you see how easy it is to do!
You are correct. It is a very simple job even for a DIYer...... or even a girl ! Even easier if you buy that tool Cosmic recomended below. For the scraper I seen people buy those floor lino scrapers with a long heavy handle too rather then a small spackling knife. If its too sharp then you will scratch or rip the drywall paper. Then you will make more work for youself.
Whatever method you choose you will have some sore muscles when your done.
[quote=World Citizen;5357993]I disagree that it's a hard project but it is a messy one.
I did my downstairs the same way while we were remodeling. Just MESSY!
Inlaws had their living/kitchen/family area down after remodeling b/c the ceiling patches wouldn't match. Small older home (possible asbestos), had less than 1000sqft done for around $2k, to remove and replace with knockdown style, not including paint.
The aesbestos panic is overblown. Look into the facts, you can find lot of information on the internet. People who got sick from aesbestos were exposed to very high levels of dust with no protection for a very long time.
In fact, nearly the only people who got aesbestos disease were those who worked in mines or those who worked in aesbstos factories. I see nothing that would indicate that you can get any health impact from srcaping off some popcorn cieling with a trace of aesbestos in it, nor from removing tile with aesbestos in it. You have to make your own decision, but look at the facts, not the hype. This is much like the DDT panic or several other issues (how about Y2K?). DDT is bad for birds and it is good that it is off the market but people get so panicky over it that it is absurd. I once prayed some old bug killer with DDT in it in my yard and when I realized it, I called some governmental agency and they told me that I should close off my yard and never allow anyone in it again. I looked into the issue some more and discovered that DDT has never been linked to any health issue in humans. I also learned that every one of us eats DDT every day. It is still inthe soil on farms and still being absorbed into plants, especially leafy vegatbles. Thus, even if you eat "organic" salads, the lettuse is probably full of DDT that was sprayed in the area in the past. DDT never breaks down and never goes away, That is why it was banned, not becuase of some threat to human health.
If you want to buy into the aesbestos hype, then do so, but at least make an infomred decision. Do some research.
I have never concerned myself with removing some insulation around pipes a
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Get rid of popcorn ceilings
